Best speaker brands for transient response

172 responses so far. Who would have thought transient response was such an important thing for audiophiles? I figured it was at the bottom of the list.

@cdc I just can't express how grateful I am with everyone pitching in with their feedback. I've learned so much and can, because of this thread, make a purchase decision with confidence.

Daedalus Audio speakers have been the best fit for me and best overall that I have heard.  I would be very tempted by the currently available used Apollos if I didn't already have a set of Ulysses.

Very natural sound,  non fatiguing.  Bass is fast, accurate, deep.  Do not overload my medium room, but can produce chest thumping bass.  At 96-98 dB efficiency depending on model, they provide a lot of amp pairing options.  Doesn't hurt that they look great.

I usually listen without subs because I don't really need them most of the time, though my Rythmiks match up very well with a low crossover to dig deep to 20 Hz and below.  I have a pair of Daedalus BOW subs on order more so for a future much larger room.  I love the Rythmiks and will keep them in another system,  but I'm excited to hear subs that can fully match the Ulysses sound signature.

Transient responses from a speaker is a very curious topic. I always interpret what transient means by comparing the Appalachian mountains to the Rocky Mountains. Attack of an instrument being relayed through a recording, level of crispness in what you’re listening to, and what the hell goes on during a recording session when they’re playing with all these levers.

I always liked JBL speakers, have not heard them for a while.

I think what’s really important here is the quality of the amplifier and how it handles that sort of thing in relation to whatever the speaker achieves.

Probably tough to get a good definitive answer here.  Sealed speakers are not that common and there's plenty of portage speakers that probably give really good transient response I'm not sure there's a distinction between the two.

@emergingsoul thanks for your response. I get very good transient response through a Cambridge CXA61 integrated which is definitely not a high price point amp and maybe I just got lucky that it's a great match with my KLH Model 3s.

I did a lot of research and there seemed to be a prevailing, although not backed up by data, belief that a sealed design will deliver better transients on average because of the absence of a port. But certainly ported designs, especially at higher price points, can deliver superior transients as well. That was the primary reason for my posting the question, I wanted to get an idea of higher priced speakers that are found to be very good in this area of performance.

I believe the dynamic speakers that Steinway made were especially fast but they are most likely out of production. I have Quad 2905’s with newer 2912 panels. I’d recommend the Quad 2912’s depending on your musical preferences. For classical/art music or jazz, they can be breathtaking but playing Rage Against The Machine would be utterly ridiculous. I run my Quads with my ASR Emitter II Exclusive at 250 watts per channel at 8 ohms. This is a perfect match but you can run them with much less. If you buy Quads, buy the 2912’s because those panels are superior to any of their previous panels. As for Sound Labs, definitely if you have the cash flow and room enough for their largest models.